hrk123 Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 My RT has 5600 miles on it. It would not start even with spark and gas. Had it towed to BMW and confirmed my worst fears. Significant compression loss and leak down test passes the pistons. Oil was changed 900 miles ago and plenty of oil in the motor just before this occurred. No warnings whether it be the idiot light on the dash, exhaust smoke or running badly. Its out of warranty by about 9 months. I need to determine the cause so that I can argue my case to BMW. Any thoughts or ideas? Thanks Link to comment
Nor Cal Woody Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Sorry to hear your story. I have 2004 RT and had top-end replaced at 14,000 by dealer under warranty. Excessive burning of oil was only indicator. At 12,000 mile service it was noticed that there was excessive carbon buildup on sparkplug and piston (didn't remove head). ultimately they performed a leak-down test (failed) and discovered that the cylinders and pistons were "out-of-round". Replaced cylinders, pistons, valves, heads and associated parts. Someone on this site provided a BMW service memo to all dealers identifying this problem in isolated cases. Sorry, I don't remember the member or how to find the memo. Good luck, your's may be different circumstance but then again... Link to comment
upflying Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Not sure what would cause cylinders to fry other than overheating or lack of oil. Are you the original owner? Was the 600 mi maintenance done, who did the oil change at 4700 miles? Is there oil in it now? Are you saying it drove normally until you parked it and then no restart? Seems like cyliders grinding themselves to death would show some symptoms before you parked it. Your secret warranty case with BMW will no doubt entail a complete teardown to determine the origin of the failure. If it is defective part, maybe they will work out a compromise with you. Hopefully you will be able to prove the part was bad prior to 9 months ago. Keep us updated on the progress, pix helps too. Link to comment
hrk123 Posted March 6, 2006 Author Share Posted March 6, 2006 I live in Pittsburg, we are neighbors.. I'll let you know what occurs. Do you have input on Diablo Kawasaki BMW in Walnut Creek. I have asked them to tell me what caused the problem. I got an attitude when I asked them to do this for me in order that I would have ammunition for the BMW warranty folks. Thanks for your concern - Harry 415-716-7376 Link to comment
Brodyku Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Sorry to hear your story. I have 2004 RT and had top-end replaced at 14,000 by dealer under warranty. Excessive burning of oil was only indicator. At 12,000 mile service it was noticed that there was excessive carbon buildup on sparkplug and piston (didn't remove head). ultimately they performed a leak-down test (failed) and discovered that the cylinders and pistons were "out-of-round". Replaced cylinders, pistons, valves, heads and associated parts. Someone on this site provided a BMW service memo to all dealers identifying this problem in isolated cases. Sorry, I don't remember the member or how to find the memo. Good luck, your's may be different circumstance but then again... I have been having (prior to winter storage) lots of carbon build up on the end of the tail pipe. Last year I would clean it off and it would gradually build back up. I have 11,500 miles on it. Also seems to use a little oil. Could this be the same issue and should I have a leak down test perfomed?? Link to comment
Nor Cal Woody Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 My 2004 RT was an oil burner from early on. Like your experience, I noticed carbon buildup on the tail pipe but really no other symptoms other than oil consumption and carbon on tail pipe. When the 12,000 mile service was done it was noted that there was excessive carbon buildup on the piston. The problem I had was that the dealer kept telling me that a quart to quart and a quarter, per 1000 miles, were within acceptable BMW oil consumption guidelines. The dealer therefore was restricted by BMW policy to perform further diagnostic tests which would have identified the out of round cylinders and pistons. My experience was that the bike had to be using in excess of a quart and a half per 1000 miles to pass the BMW warranty litmus test. Why should a BMW engine burn over a quart of oil every 1000 miles? And why should it take 18,000 miles to wear-in the engine? Never got a clear answer to either of these questions. Don't know if this helped but good luck. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.